new to the group

Hi everyone!

I just stumbled onto the group. During my daughter's nap time, I'm going to
read the faq...

I'm thinking about transportation options right now. Currently I don't
drive, I never bothered learning. This college school year I am studying
through distance learning online, my daughter wasn't quite ready for
preschool. Next year, I plan to study on campus with my daughter going to
the on campus preschool.

My family is an one car family, with my husband transfering schools next
semester which he will definately need the car for. We keep tossing around
how I'm going to commute to school when the time comes, and this weekend
started considering that a bicycle commute wouldn't be that bad
neccessarily. The distance between home and school via yahoo maps is
approximately 7 miles one way. From lurking around the messages for the
last few days, I can see that this is fairly reasonable idea so far. I'm a
fairly newbie to bicycling, the last bicycle I owned was in high school and
only used every once in a while. How long of a commute in a suburban area
would 7 miles be?

Stating the obvious, I would need a bicycle, lol. But, also probably I will
need a trailor for my daughter to ride in.

Anybody want to step in my shoes and state what you would do?

Thanks in advance!

Laurel


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Tue, 2 Nov 2004 13:45:41 -0800, ,
"SuperEeyore" wrote:

How long of a commute in a suburban area
would 7 miles be?

Likely less than 30 minutes. How much less depends on terrain.

Stating the obvious, I would need a bicycle, lol. But, also probably I will
need a trailor for my daughter to ride in.

Anybody want to step in my shoes and state what you would do?

I'd start riding immediately to build the fitness needed for towing a
loaded trailer 14 miles.

Do some test runs on weekends and explore routes other than those
you'd normally use for driving a car. You have more options on a bike.
--
zk

SuperEeyore wrote:
How long of a commute in a suburban area would 7 miles be?

It depends on the route. If you have a nice route where you can maintain
15mph or so with few stops, then it's about half an hour. Since you're just
starting, a more comfortable 10mph pace puts it at about 45 minutes. But if
you hit a stop sign or signal every other block,...

Stating the obvious, I would need a bicycle, lol. But, also probably I will
need a trailor for my daughter to ride in.

We ordered a trailer from http://www.wicycle.com/ and it looks good, but we
only picked up the tandem we're going to use it with last night, so we
haven't taken it for a test ride yet. Another option (for both the bike and
the trailer) is to look for local used ones.
--
Darin McGrew, , http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/
Web Design Group, , http://www.HTMLHelp.com/

"Experience is what allows you to recognize a mistake when you make it again."

Consider attending a LAB Road1 class and a Commuting class if there's one in
your area. The information in these courses will make you a confident, safe
cyclist in a short time. It's much better than learning the hard way -
through experience.

My commute is about 7 miles across fairly flat terrain. The first couple of
weeks, I rode it in 35-40 minutes. Now it's more like a comfortable 30 or
less, and sometimes, just sometimes when the wind is right, it's sub-25!


Believe me, the hardest part of bicycle commuting is making the initial
decision to try it. After that, it's all just problem solving.
--

alan

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."


"SuperEeyore" wrote in message
...
We keep tossing around
how I'm going to commute to school when the time comes, and this weekend
started considering that a bicycle commute wouldn't be that bad
neccessarily.

Laurel wrote:

Anybody want to step in my shoes and state what you would do?

Hi Laurel, and welcome to the group.

You can do a 7 mile commute, but if you've been fairly sedentary, you
will feel like you're going to die about halfway into the ride. Keep at
it, though, and after a few days you'll get used to it.

Several people mentioned 30 minutes for this distance. My wife takes
about 45 minutes or longer for her 7 mile commute, but she takes it
*very* slowly and doesn't like to arrive sweaty at her job. Conversely,
I do my six-mile commute in about 20 minutes. When the kids are with
me, it's more like 45 minutes to an hour for this ride.

I second Alan's recommendation to take the LAB Road 1 and Commuting
class. Go to http://www.bikeleague.org/ to find an instructor. Riding
in traffic -- even heavy traffic in narrow lanes while pulling a child
trailer -- can be done safely, but instruction and knowledge is helpful
to have. If an instructor isn't available locally, find somebody
through a local advocacy group, riding club, or local bike shop who
would be willing to mentor you and perhaps ride with you a couple of
times.

Remember to keep it fun!

RFM
http://www.masoner.net/bike/

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 22:44:45 GMT, "alan"
wrote:

Consider attending a LAB Road1 class and a Commuting class if there's one in
your area. The information in these courses will make you a confident, safe
cyclist in a short time. It's much better than learning the hard way -
through experience.

Alan, can you be more specific about what these classes are? Link, perhaps?

My commute is about 7 miles across fairly flat terrain. The first couple of
weeks, I rode it in 35-40 minutes. Now it's more like a comfortable 30 or
less, and sometimes, just sometimes when the wind is right, it's sub-25!

Believe me, the hardest part of bicycle commuting is making the initial
decision to try it. After that, it's all just problem solving.

True, dat.

-B

"SuperEeyore" wrote in message
...

Next year, I plan to study on campus with my daughter going to
the on campus preschool.

How old is your daughter?

The distance between home and school via yahoo maps is
approximately 7 miles one way. From lurking around the messages for the
last few days, I can see that this is fairly reasonable idea so far. I'm
a
fairly newbie to bicycling, the last bicycle I owned was in high school
and
only used every once in a while. How long of a commute in a suburban area
would 7 miles be?

Initially, a 6 mile suburban ride for me (all either uphill or downhill,
very little flat) was 35 minutes. Now it's about 20-25 minutes.

Stating the obvious, I would need a bicycle, lol. But, also probably I
will
need a trailer for my daughter to ride in.

If your kid is little, you'll want a regular trailer. If your kid is around
four-ish, maybe an older three, you might be able to do it with a
trail-a-bike. See: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/trailrcy.html and then
horse around that site in general -- there's a lot to learn there.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire Petersky wrote:
How old is your daughter?

She will be 3 in April.

If your kid is little, you'll want a regular trailer. If your kid is
around four-ish, maybe an older three, you might be able to do it
with a trail-a-bike. See:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/trailrcy.html and then horse
around that site in general -- there's a lot to learn there.

The trailer sounds a bit better right now, only because of school books and
the length of the commute. It would be much easier to have her sitting with
stuff to do, then trying to pedal or sit on a trail-a-bike.

Laurel


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Badger_South wrote:
On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 22:44:45 GMT, "alan"
wrote:


Consider attending a LAB Road1 class and a Commuting class if there's one in
your area. The information in these courses will make you a confident, safe
cyclist in a short time. It's much better than learning the hard way -
through experience.


Alan, can you be more specific about what these classes are? Link, perhaps?

LAB = League of American Bicyclists

http://www.bikeleague.org/educenter/education.htm

has various Course Descriptions, Classes (schedules), and more info.

it was a really good program makes aware of your rights and duties while
on the road. Builds confidence for riding with traffic.

if you are in SF bay area check out:
http://www.bicyclesolutions.com/BayAreaClassTable.htm

Laurel, make sure you get a bike that fits you well. you can read the
FAQ/earlier posts as to how important fit is.

+ravi



My commute is about 7 miles across fairly flat terrain. The first couple of
weeks, I rode it in 35-40 minutes. Now it's more like a comfortable 30 or
less, and sometimes, just sometimes when the wind is right, it's sub-25!


Believe me, the hardest part of bicycle commuting is making the initial
decision to try it. After that, it's all just problem solving.


True, dat.

-B

On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 00:16:51 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:

If your kid is little, you'll want a regular trailer. If your kid is around
four-ish, maybe an older three, you might be able to do it with a
trail-a-bike. See: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/trailrcy.html and then
horse around that site in general -- there's a lot to learn there.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky

Would you not want to be an expert bike handler on your own before trying
to tow a trailer with a child? Just asking.

-B